Human

As people spend significantly more time chatting through online messengers and refusing to go socialize, two cultural activities become increasingly popular: 1) hookups and 2) food deliveries. Human, the first feature-length film from the filthy imagination of Matt Stuertz, concerns both these activities from a psychological, possibly paranormal, horror bent.

Dani Ferris (Jackie Kelly) is holed up at the studio where she is serving as an all-purpose crew member for the next Jacky Verde (Brock Russell) production at his new studio, called The Greenhouse. Isolated and horny as hell, she engages in playful chat banter with her ex Aaron (Jeffrey Decker). While getting deep into the conversation, a man begins banging loudly on Dani’s door at the studio. When she asks him to stop, he mentions that he cannot die. And that, dear reader, is when Human leaves the proverbial reservation and enters the valley of the diseased imaginations. For what transpires over the next 80 minutes of a 105-minute film is flat-out balls-to-the-wall bananas.

And yet, it’s also surreal in its locality. For Human entirely takes place in one location: Dani’s room on the studio lot. Aaron spends much of the film coming back to Los Angeles on a plane. The questions of who it actually is terrorizing her just outside her door, and what he actually wants with Dani, are what power Human to its wildly unpredictable climax. This is the sort of work Alfred Hitchcock would have at least produced, if not directed, dear reader. Matt Stuertz understands the current Generation Z quite well. Young adults who communicate almost exclusively through their cellphones, who are terrified of any unscheduled or unplanned encounter with their fellow humans. These kids, like Dani, who are terminally online, are not really prepared to grapple with complex thoughts, philosophy, or even threats. All they want to do, as we see in the initial flurry of chat messages, is contemplate getting high, eating, and having rebound sex.

Dani Ferris screams in terror while pinned to the floor in Human.

“When she asks him to stop, he mentions that he cannot die.”

One of the scenes I genuinely appreciated in Human was her video call with Jacky Verde. Jacky Verde is at once a protective producer type and also a perv. As Dani explores all the angles Verde’s security cameras have a clear view of, it becomes apparent he could have been monitoring her indiscretions this entire time. I mention this, dear reader, because it doesn’t actually give away any of the surprises but also highlights the demented angles Matt Stuertz is actively exploring with his protagonist Dani Ferris in Human. The paranoia in Human is so thick, dear reader, you could almost slice it with a knife. I was very impressed with the interplay of the cinematography, editing, and music. The heightened sense of fear Dani experiences is absolutely palpable.

Human is a terrifying, bleeding gem of psychological horror. A gruesome yet heady blend of Hitchcock and Cronenberg. I loved every claustrophobic moment of it. Do not sleep on this film, dear reader. If you have an appreciation of the genres of horror or suspense, you should absolutely give Human a try. This is one for the ages. If you’re looking for a frightening film for Halloween, you could do so much worse than Human.

For screening information, visit the Human official website.